COUNTING CASTES: THE LONG AND CONTESTED HISTORY OF CASTE CENSUS

British officials faced challenges: caste was not static. As one colonial administrator noted, caste identities exhibited "fluidity, mobility and regional changeability," complicating any permanent categorisation.

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For over a century, the caste census has been a deeply contested, politically charged, and socially transformative issue in India. From its colonial roots in British India to the intense political tug-of-war in contemporary times, the practice of counting caste has reflected not only demographic priorities but also the country's struggles with identity, representation, and social justice. The recent decision by the Modi government to include caste enumeration in the next Census has reignited debates that date back to the 19th century and reshaped the trajectory of Indian politics.

THE COLONIAL BEGINNING (1881-1931): CLASSIFYING TO CONTROL The British administration institutionalised the first all-India Census in 1881. From this point until 1931, every decennial census documented caste, along with religion and occupation. The colonial state saw caste as a critical tool for social control. It viewed Indian society as rigid and stratified, using caste categories to rationalise governance and military recruitment.

Notably, the 1901 Census under H.H. Risley attempted to classify castes along racial lines, suggesting that higher castes were closer to the Aryan race. "A man's social precedence is fixed by the position of his caste in the Hindu scale," Risley had infamously claimed. This effort, though widely criticised even by contemporaries, embedded a perception of caste hierarchies into official bureaucracy.

By 1931, the last full caste enumeration conducted under British rule revealed that OBCs constituted approximately 52% of the then 271 million population. However, British officials faced challenges: caste was not static. As one colonial administrator noted, caste identities exhibited "fluidity, mobility and regional changeability," complicating any permanent categorisation.